The Legacy of the Dead: Eighteen Years Later
by Nestrik
Summary: The lives of Rafe, Danny Jr. and Evelyn 18 years after Pearl Harbor
1. Default Chapter

Thanksgiving Day 1960  
  
IT WAS THE TIME OF YEAR WHEN EVELYN HURT THE MOST. The eighteen years following Danny's birth had been partially filled with joy. But every year around this time, his mother began to take pills. Danny hadn't realized what they were until he was eleven. Anti-depressants, the label read on the transparent orange bottle. Danny didn't have to ask why she was taking them. It would be better if he didn't know, Evelyn thought every time she curled up in bed, muffling the sound of her tears with her pillow. Rafe always slept like a log, so Evelyn never thought he woke up. And the few times he had woken up, he hadn't told Evelyn. Let her cry for Danny. She really did love him more than she loved me. Damned bitch, he had thought every time he had heard her crying, curling his fists under his pillow, and then beginning to cry himself, because Danny had loved her more than he did. On Thanksgiving Day Evelyn cooked a beautiful turkey with Indian corn and cranberry sauce. Rafe was watching the news channel for stock prices. Danny was upstairs in his room. He had always been rather close to Rafe, but he had been drifting away from Rafe little by little since he was eleven. "In world news, the Viet Cong guerrilla warfare has been reason to increase the number of troops sent over to South Vietnam. The fear of communism is gripping the United States. In stock news, Dow Jones is up 4.3 points, Macy's is down.." The voices faded out. Evelyn couldn't hear them anymore. The soft Hawaiian breeze was ruffling the lacy white curtains around the windows. A deck surrounded their small bungalow, and the house was right on the beach, only a mile away from Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor. The cranberry sauce immediately dropped out of her hands onto the floor, covering her feet in red goop. Danny had heard the crash upstairs, and came hurtling down. He loved his mother more than anything else in the world, and he had always tried to be there to protect her. "Mom," he said, his soulful eyes so reminiscent of Danny that Evelyn could have sworn his ghost had come back time and time again. His hands rested firmly but gently on her shoulders. "Are you OK?" Rafe entered the room then. He saw Danny and Evelyn together and decided to leave them alone. Evelyn began to cry. Small tears slid down her cheeks. "Oh, Danny," she whispered, not wanting Rafe or her son to hear. "I miss you so much." "But I'm right here, Mom," Danny said. He had heard. Evelyn turned and laid her hand on her son's cheek. "Your father," Evelyn whispered. Danny was silent. "I miss him too, Mom," he whispered back. "Tell me about him." Evelyn smiled. "He looked exactly like you did. He was an excellent flier, too. Worked in the Air Force. He and Rafe were best friends. I met Rafe first. I gave him his shots and tests so he could be in the Force. My friends and me joined the Red Cross just for the hell of it, and to meet boys." Danny rolled his eyes at his mother lovingly. Though he had already heard this story, he never tired of her telling it. "So I met Rafe. I fell in love with him. Then he accepted an offer to pilot planes in England. Rafe's plane was shot down over the ocean. Everyone thought he had drowned. I went into a sort of shock, I guess. Three months later, I fell in love with Danny. He took me out in his plane. We almost got caught, and when we landed we had to run into this room for storing parachutes. You happened next." Danny was very thankful she left it to one sentence. "Then Rafe was discovered to be alive, and he and Danny had a fight. When they heard the next morning." Danny could hear his mother's voice begin to choke up. "No, Mom, don't say it, I know. What happened after?" "Your father and Rafe accepted a mission to bomb Tokyo in a retaliatory attack. The Japanese surrounded their aircraft carriers early. They took off the carriers early and didn't have enough fuel to fly over China, which was occupied by the Japs. After dropping the bombs, the planes were forced to crash land in China, which was occupied by Japanese troops. Rafe's plane had been surrounded. Your father-," Evelyn's eyes welled up with tears. "He.crashed landed while shooting at the Japanese troops that had surrounded Rafe.and then he was shot.twice.in the chest while trying to escape." Evelyn buried her face in her hands. This was the hardest part for her, because she had seen it. "Rafe stepped off the plane that had brought everyone back to Hawaii. He looked at me, and then................he turned around and helped carry your father's coffin off the plane." Danny's tears dropped onto his mother's shirt. She put her hand on his. He was all she had left of Danny. "Evee! Come on, I'm STARVING!!!!" Rafe appeared in the doorway to the kitchen and saw that both of them were crying. "Oh, honey," he said smoothly, silently and gently brushing Danny away. "Its alright, its alright. Let's just have a happy Thanksgiving. I'm sure that's what Danny would have wanted." Evelyn sniffled. "Alright," she said. "I'll clean up the sauce," Danny offered. "No, sweetie, I'll do it." "OK, Mom." They ate Thanksgiving dinner in silence, with the TV breaking the noise, bringing in the latest news from the front in Vietnam.  
  
Later that night, Danny sat on his bed, looking at his bookshelf. He singled one out and looked at it. It was an Eyewitness book. About fighter planes. And in that moment, Danny knew what he wanted to do with his life. Danny went down the stairs. Through the living room. Into the kitchen. Out the door, to where Evelyn was standing on the deck. "Mom." "What, honey?" "I want to be a fighter pilot. Like Dad was. I'm the perfect age to go into the army, and I want to sorta follow in Dad's footsteps. And Rafe's," he quickly added. Rafe heard this exchange, counted to ten to cool his anger and shock, and since it didn't work, he came barreling through the door to the deck. "Daniel, do you know what kind of state you would be putting your mother in if you went to war? Do you have any idea what might happen to you?" "Yes! I have a FATHER who DIED to save his country, and yourself. Why can't I give something back to him? I want to be exactly like he was!" "HE'S DEAD!" Rafe screamed. Danny had never fought with Rafe before. Just with his mother, and even then, it was just normal teenager/parent fights. But Rafe had just crossed the line. "DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW HE'S DEAD? HE'S MY OWN DAMNED FATHER, RAFE! YOU KNEW HIM, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! I MISS HIM EVERY SINGLE DAMNED DAY I HAVE TO LIVE WITHOUT HIM, AND MAYBE I WANT TO FOLLOW HIS EXAMPLE! AND IF I DO DIE, I WONT HAVE TO MISS HIM ANYMORE!" No one spoke. Evelyn was sitting down, trying to take in the fact that she might lose the one thing she had left from Danny. Danny was thinking that he knew he hadn't meant what he said, but he wasn't taking it back. Rafe was thinking how much Danny reminded him of his lost friend. "Alright, Danny. Just.take care of yourself." Rafe gave a nod towards Evelyn. Danny sat down next to her. "Mom?" "You want to be exactly like your father. I won't hold you back. But you have to promise me," said Evelyn, voice shaking, looking into his eyes, "you have to promise me that you won't die." The sadness in his mother's eyes mixed with the desire to be like his father. "I promise, Mom," he whispered, and they hugged tightly. Both cried long into the night.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Disclaimer- Everyone belongs to Pearl Harbor. 


	2. Chapter Two

RAFE WOKE WITH A START. He saw and heard Danny's last moments.  
  
"Danny! Danny, you can't die! You can't die because. you're gonna be a father. You're gonna be a daddy." "No. You are."  
  
No. You are. The words cut through Rafe like a bullet. I tried, Danny, he thought. I tried to protect him. Dammit, why'd you go? He needs you now, more than ever. I'm no father to him. Rafe loved Danny as he had loved a brother. He loved this Danny as a son. But he was no father to him. It wasn't his place to tell him what to do. Danny wants to go to Nam, and there is nothing I can do about it.  
  
Danny lay awake in bed, too. He was thinking about his decision to go to war, like his father had. He didn't want to leave his fragile mother. Danny knew that he was all she had left of his father. But he couldn't spend the rest of his life protecting her. He had to get out on his own. Danny knew that he loved his father, though he had never met him. He wanted so badly to be like the person Rafe and Evelyn described that it hurt. Danny knew that he had to be himself, not his father, but. If I want to be like my father, I have to make my own choices. Danny made his choice. He jumped out of bed and gathered some clothes, which he stuffed into a backpack. Then he threw in some odds and ends, pictures, a toothbrush, the necklace that had belonged to his father. He walked softly down the hall to Rafe and Evelyn's bedroom. Danny walked in and saw his mother lying there, asleep. He walked up to her and brushed the hair of her cheek. Danny paused, then kissed it and whispered to her, "Its gonna be OK, Mom. Its gonna be OK." Danny left the room. He didn't know if he'd ever return there. He had promised his mother that he wouldn't die, but how could he do that? He had no control. He shut the door quietly behind him, then walked out over the sand to where his life began. Pearl Harbor. It was 4:00 AM, and the sun was just touching the water in the harbor. Someone would be up. He walked into the office and was surprised to see a secretary there. "Hello," he said a little gruffly. He hadn't had his usual cup of coffee yet. He noticed that her nametag read, "Beth-Anne." She smiled at him. "How may I help you, sir? "I was wondering where I could sign up to train to be a fighter pilot." "Right here, sir. I'll send in the general to see you." Five minutes later, General Calloway walked in. "I am the head officer here at the Pearl Harbor base. Beth-Anne has told me that you are interested in training to be a fighter pilot. We can send you to Long Island to get your training, but we can take your routine tests here. Name?" "Daniel Walker, Jr." "Dani- Daniel Walker?" the general asked. "Yes, sir." General Calloway gave a twisted smile. "I knew of your father," he said.  
  
The plane ride to Long Island was long, over six hours. Daniel wondered what would await him there. He already knew how to fly a plane, thanks to Rafe. That would take a lot out of his way. Maybe he'd go right over to Nam.  
  
Back at Pearl Harbor, General Calloway was staring out the window. "What's the matter, sir?" Beth-Anne asked. "Daniel Walker Sr." "What's so special about him?" General Calloway took a breath. "Danny was stationed here when Pearl Harbor was attacked. He and his friend Rafe went over to an airfield and jumped planes. They were spectacular pilots, the two of them. They crashed a bunch of zeros. Anyways, both were selected to go bomb Tokyo on a retaliatory attack. As you already know, the planes had to crash land in China. Daniel crashed his plane while shooting at the Jap soldiers surrounding Rafe. He was shot twice in the chest, and then he died." General Calloway gave a sort of curt nod. "That's his son, with one of the nurses that worked their asses off that day. Evelyn. I remember her, too."  
  
Finally. Long Island. Danny walked into the office in Long Island and signed his name. A secretary directed him on where the other trainees went. As he walked, Danny saw a large plaque on the wall.  
  
World War II Veterans Trained On Long Island.  
  
Danny's eyes scrolled down the long list. Then hell froze over.  
  
Daniel Walker, Fighter Pilot  
  
Killed In Action 1941  
  
Danny felt tears coming along. That was his father. Killed in action, 1941. Nineteen years ago. He refused to cry as he was shown to his bunk.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Disclaimer- anyone familiar belongs to the movie. I made up Beth-Anne and General Calloway. They are fictional characters. 


	3. Chapter Three

TWO YEARS LATER  
  
DANNY WOKE UP EARLY ON JUNE 1st, 1962. Today was the day he graduated from fighter pilot school. Unlike all of the other cadets, he hadn't invited his mother and Rafe. If either of them came, both of them would start to cry and pressure him not to go to Vietnam. The ceremony began at noon. The head officer stood on a platform with a podium in front of him. The cadet's suits were navy blue. When everyone's names had been read, the students threw their hats into the air. Danny watched his twirl around, then fall back at his feet. He had begun a new life. He stayed in a NYC hotel for a few days, relaxing and enjoying himself, and then he caught the next plane headed to Honolulu. 


End file.
